Fr. Botros Roshdy, a priest who serves there, tucks an iPhone into his black cassock. He has a social media presence and is known across the country. He is more willing than most to discuss the persecution faced by the zabbaleen and Egypt\u2019s other Christians. \u201cNeither the church leaders you have met, nor those you are going to meet, are speaking freely,\u201d he says after we sit down. \u201cIf they could speak freely, they would discuss the discriminatory laws, the infiltration of the judicial system by the Muslim Brotherhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roshdy notes that little has changed for the Copts over the last decade, despite the hollow promises of freedom that came with the Arab Spring and current president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi\u2019s self-presentation as a defender of Christians. \u201cWe are still being used as a playing card in political games. When the government wants to win the support of Copts during the elections, they offer to let us build a church.\u201d But these overtures have not changed the landscape. \u201cTake the blasphemy law,\u201d \u00adRoshdy says. \u201cIt has been applied only against Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roshdy mentions some typical incidents of persecution. One involved an elderly Coptic woman in Minya who was attacked, stripped naked, and dragged through the streets. \u201cEveryone knows who did this crime, but there has been no punishment.\u201d A group of Coptic students in Bani \u00adMazar filmed a video in which they mocked ISIS. \u201cPeople in their town accused them of blasphemy for mocking Islam. So these young children were arrested and jailed. . . . They were finally freed and received asylum in \u00adEurope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the persecution, Egypt\u2019s Christians are winning converts. The number and names of converts must be carefully guarded, however, because conversion from Islam carries a high price. \u201cSome of them are kicked out of their houses, some of them are fired, some of them have their kids taken away,\u201d Roshdy says. \u201cBut they consider all of these troubles nothing for the sake of Christ. Their faith is so strong, they see him.\u201d Cast out by their families, these men and women are adopted into the household of God.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2015, ISIS beheaded 21 Christians on a beach in Libya. Last month I met their families. It was inspiring to see how they\u2014along with all Egypt\u2019s Christians\u2014seek to bring good out of evil amid suffering.https:\/\/t.co\/K8WauAxNHI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Matthew Schmitz (@matthewschmitz) November 11, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n